The next life

I've attended several funerals in my life and been to burials before, but I've never had someone close to me die, so I'm not quite sure how it goes. Both sets of my grandparents are still living, and fortunately no other mishaps or accidents have occurred with friends or other family members. I do have to give respect for my Aunt that passed away because I don't remember any of it or even what happened, being it was a time in my life that I was still out of sorts and not really put together. With that being said, I've read some very interesting things about death and the spirit world. Most of you probably already know this but since I'm kinda new to the experience, I wanted to share what I learned.

Elder Ballard warned us saying, " Do not let any of us imagine that we can go down to the grave not having overcome the corruptions of the flesh and then lose in the grave all our sins and evil tendencies. They will still be with us. They will be with the spirit when separated from the body. Every man and woman who is putting off until the next life the task of correcting and overcoming the weakness of flesh are sentencing themselves to years of bondage. For no man or woman will come forth in the resurrrection until he has completed his work, until he has overcome those tendencies, and until he has done as much as he can do." WOW! It makes so much sense of why we need to find our mission in life, why we need to live up to who we are, and honor why we're here. It's not just the simple answers of getting a body, going on mission, marrying in the temple, and raising kids- we're here to do God's work, whatever that specific work may be. What better way to stress the importance of living up to our potential then to say what Elder Ballard said, "For no man or woman will come forth until he has done as much as he can"!!!! I definitely don't want to be trying to make up in the spirit world for what I didn't finish (or start!) here...... I gotta get to work! =)